Famili PNG raises awareness on child abuse and other forms of violence

Femili PNG has raised concern on a high rate of children being used for household duties in the country.
Operations director Denga Ilave said they had seen a lot of children being used by parents to do sales along the Highlands Highway Tulait-tulait (dusk to dawn) market at Singsing Creek in Markham, Morobe.
“We’ve seen a lot of children selling things in the night at Singsing creek. “This is child abuse and it’s against the Lukautim Pikinini Act,” she said.
Ilave warned parents to watch their children and not to allow anyone around them.
“Children, even less than two years old, are experiencing sexual abuse,” she said.
“Don’t trust anyone to leave your child with, even the nearest relative,” Ilave said this to the Watarais community during an awareness on children’s rights, child abuse, gender-based, domestic and sorcery-related accusation violence by family and sexual violence action committee last Friday.
She told parents to keep their children closer and look after them.
“Don’t leave your daughter and go to Singsing Creek for more than a week’s marketing,” she said.
“You must make sure that there’s a trusted person taking care of the children.”
Ilave said the trauma of sexual abuse on a child lived in them for life.
“It haunts a child and affects their education, and everything else in life,” she said.
“But if there’s an abuse, it must be reported quickly.
“Go quickly to hospital, police, welfare and use other pathways to report and help the child.”Ilave said there was a lot of help around and parents or guardians of children must not solve child sexual abuse cases in communities.
“We’re not living in stone-age days,” she said.
“Don’t solve an abuse case in the community and leave it as that.
“Go to hospital, police and other stakeholder partners like us to get help.”